The Square Foot

Bentall Kennedy Ranks First in Americas for Environmental, Social and Governance Performance

Bentall Kennedy, one of North America's largest diversified real estate investment advisors and real estate services organizations ranked first in its class in the Americas for environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance by the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) for the second year in a row.

The survey is conducted by the GRESB Foundation and measures the ESG performance of listed and private property funds. This year, participation in the research survey grew by 30%, representing 450 property companies and funds, and US$ 1,320 billion in global assets under management. "The data collected by GRESB provide a base for informed discussion between institutional owner of real estate and their property companies and investment managers regarding the sustainability of existing investments," said Nils Kok, GRESB's Executive Director.

The published list ranks the number one entity for each asset class (retail, industrial, commercial and diversified) in each of the following regions; Americas, Asia, Oceania, and Europe. Bentall Kennedy was rated the top performer in the Diversified category, which GRESB defines as no one asset class representing more than 60% of assets.

The survey gathers information on sustainable management practices and policies, and implementation and measurement of energy consumption, water consumption, waste collection, recycling, CO2 emissions, and on employee training programs and remuneration policies.

"The growth in participation in the GRESB study reflects the growing importance of responsible property investing, and we believe this annual study enables investors and tenants to identify and partner with global leaders," said Gary Whitelaw, Chief Executive Officer for the Bentall Kennedy Group. "Increasingly, leading tenants and property investors are selecting buildings that are in the forefront of ESG practices for their space needs and their investment capital. Satisfying the key stakeholder objectives of best-in-class tenants inevitably translates into stronger tenant retention and higher property values—a win/win for all involved". Whitelaw said.

"We are very pleased that our continued focus on environmental, social and governance initiatives has again earned Bentall Kennedy recognition as an industry leader. It reflects the commitment of all of our clients, tenants and employees who successfully work together to implement best practices in responsible property investing in our clients' real estate portfolios," said Whitelaw.
Each respondent will receive their detailed performance reports in mid-September 2012.